Kale Salad with Cashew Pesto

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup cooked quinoa
1 bunch of kale
1 cup cooked butternut squash
1/4 red onion 
1 avocado

Pesto:
2 cups cilantro, packed
1/2 cup cashews
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 lime, juiced
pinch red pepper flakes

Directions:
Cook the quinoa, per the instructions on the box. Make the pesto: combine cilantro, cashews and garlic in a food processor. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, lime juice and red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth and creamy. Combine the warm quinoa, chopped kale, butternut squash, red onion, avocado and pesto. Mix well with a big spoon and season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.

My Love Language

2014, was a year filled with weddings, babies, birthdays, a new sister, a new job, trips, anniversaries, engagements... the list goes on. But one thing I became sure of was my love language. Over the course of this past year, I was fortunate enough to have my dinner table filled countless times with the best friends I could ever ask for. Whether is was celebrating an engagement, trading "Handy Man Dan" for his work, or simply drowning a bad week in buttery chard, my heart was full. I've learned through all of these gatherings, that there is nothing I enjoy more than feeding the ones I love. As I look forward to the year ahead, I can't wait for full tables and full bellies, celebrating the many accomplishments in store. MANGIA! 

The "Best" Basil Pesto

It's easy. It's quick. It tastes 1000% better than anything you can buy at the store. Do yourself a favor and make the most delicious, fresh pesto you've ever had. 

Ingredients:
4 cups of basil leaves, tightly packed
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
dash of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper

Directions:
Toast the pine nuts. Blend all ingredients except the parmesan, until smooth. Add in the parmesan and blend. Stream in EVOO as needed until smooth. Taste and adjust salt & pepper as needed.

Note: I have also tried making the pesto with pecorino romano for a stronger kick.

Spiralled Zucchini Bowls

How great are infomercials? Seriously, I love them. The demos, the sales pitch, the products that you can't live without!  C'monnnn, at home facial kit, knives that cut through bricks, or my latest obsession, the vegetable spiralizer all qualify as necessities right? The Paderno Spiralizer may or may not be another ploy to trick the recipe testers into believing zucchini noodles taste just like pasta. But so far its working!

Ingredients:
3 zucchinis 
3 heirloom or cherry tomatoes 
2 ears of corn, cut off the cob
1/2 cup of pesto
Salt & Pepper to taste


Directions:
Spiralize the zucchini into noodles. Preheat oven to 400 and soak the ears of corn in water for 10 -15 minutes. Place the corn on a baking sheet and allow to cook in the oven, for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cut the corn kernels from the ears of corn. Halve the tomatoes, and mix with zucchini and corn. Toss with the pesto, and season with salt & pepper as needed.

Harbaugh's Pulled Pork Sliders

Who's pumped for Red Zone to come back? This lady right hereee! I mean between Bleacher Report, my Fantasy league and Pinteresting finger foods, I can barely find the time to sleep. Yea, that couldn't be farther from the truth, but I have found some amazing new recipes for this season.
In the meantime I want to share a staple of the 2013 Season. I've learned with avid sports fans not to mess with their superstitions (no hats on the bed, noted). Which will probably explain why I have not be eaten pulled pork in over a year, but it is a crowd pleaser no matter how many weeks in a row you consume. 

Ingredients:  
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon kosher salt, more as needed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder
2 cups barbecue sauce (optional)

Directions:

Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour broth. Combine the sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.

Turn off the slow cooker and remove the pork to a cutting board. If the pork has a bone, remove and discard it. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker, add the barbecue sauce, if using, and mix to combine. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, use a spoon to skim and discard the fat from the surface of the strained cooking liquid, and then add 1/4 cup of the liquid at a time to the slow cooker until the pork is just moistened. Taste and season with salt as needed.

I usually serve with a spicy coleslaw. (Cabbage, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and cayenne) 

Mini Apple Pie Factory

Can we just agree that anything miniature is just that much more fabulous? Mini sliders, mini cupcakes, mini pizzas, mini tacos, miniature poodles; Beau :) So obviously after making a go at mini cheesecakes, I had to try mini apple pies! I'll be the first to admit that baking is a bit of a challenge for me. You know, with all that measurement jazzz. (I'm sure by now you've noticed that most of my recipes read "adjust as needed" for the spices.) So, one day I called over some of my gurllls and we had a little baking bonanza. It's always more fun with your friends around to laugh at the trials and errors. As you can tell, the lattice was not our strong point. 


Ingredients for filling:

8 cups of apples

12 tbs flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

4 tbs chilled butter

1 pinch of salt

Dough:

2 boxes of pillsbury pie crusts

(I tried two different dough recipes, and both weren't nearly as good as the boxed. I'll keep trying!)

Directions:

Start by cutting up eight cups of apples into small 1/2in bits. Mix the apples with flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Unroll your chilled pie crust and cut circles for your mini muffin tin. I used a mason jar ring that worked great! Line each of your muffin tins with the crust. Gently fill the crusts with your apple mixture to the top. Divide your butter equally into 24 pieces, and put a dab on each pie. Cover each pie with extra dough as desired. Brush melted butter over each pie. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-22 minutes. 

*I used a mini cheesecake muffin tin that made it really easy to pop the pies out.

My favorite fashion blogger this + that

Rosemary Bread Twists

When that bread basket arrives at the table, it is nearly impossible for me to resist. Whether it's the sourdough at Balboa or the tall breadsticks at Perry's, I'm a sucker! These are an easy twist...get it, twist... on traditional garlic bread. I sought out to make something to compliment the lamb chops I served at a dinner party and these did just the trick. An added bonus, your guests will think you slaved away all day. Especially if you get creative with the shapes! 


Ingredients

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1/3 cup grated Gruyere

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1 container refrigerated breadstick dough- (Pillsbury)Finely ground sea salt (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, chop the Parmesan, Gruyere and rosemary together until coarsely chopped. Set the cheese mixture aside. Separate the dough strips. Using a pizza cutter or a large sharp knife, cut each dough strip in half lengthwise to form thin strips. Working with dough strip at a time, coat each strip with the cheese mixture, pressing very gently. Twist each cheese covered dough strip and place onto prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with the salt, if you wish.

Bake until the breadsticks are golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the warm breadsticks to a basket and serve.

Original recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Shrimp, Lime and Avocado Salad

In honor of my new sistaaa (most gorg bride ever) and a toast to her birthday last week, I wanted to share with you one of her delicious recipes! A few months ago she hosted a dinner party and it was perfection! This ceviche like salad is hearty enough to serve on its own, or as a side dish. I have done my best to recreate it at least five times since then. It would even be a great filling for a fish taco! SO many options, so tasty, you really can't go wrong! Thanks Mo, Happy birthday xoxo

Ingredients:
1 lb jumbo cooked shrimp, chopped 

1 medium tomato, diced

1 hass avocado, diced

1 jalapeno, seeds removed, diced fine

1/4 cup chopped red onion

2 limes, juice of

1 tsp EVOO

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a small bowl combine red onion, lime juice, EVOO and salt & pepper to taste. In a larger serving bowl, combine the shrimp, avocado, tomato and jalapeno. Combine all ingredients together. Adjust salt and pepper as needed. Chill in refrigerator for about 30 min for flavors to settle. Garnish with cilantro and serve!